November 11-12, 2023: Kyle Lockwood’s Guest Post: Exploration and the Human Spirit

[I lovethe chance to share each and every Guest Post, but the opportunity to featurethe writing and voice of a Fitchburg State English Studies alumnus is alwaysextra special. KyleLockwood is a recent FSU graduate who has begun to move into a journalisticand professional writing career, and someone whose work and writing Ihighly recommend to anyone out there! He's also a veteran of our armed services, so I'm particularly proud to share his work here on Veterans Day weekend.]

Since the beginning of time manhas left his home in search of something new. Early humans wandered the plainsin search of food and shelter, now we spend billions of dollars in an effort toexplore outer space. While our methods and efforts may have evolved, our driveand will to find new and better places has not.

The human experience is a uniqueconcept. At our core we are not so far from those other primates with whom weshare the Earth with, yet we have developed this heightened sense ofconsciousness. This state of awareness has allowed us to advance farther thanother species and excel as a society into new living conditions. Though we eachare surrounded by advanced technologies and comforts unknown before weconstructed them, we have retained our most basic needs; food andshelter. 

Before apartment buildings andminivans we had to build our homes from the ground up with our bare hands.Although this task is quite difficult, it is still in our core. Many of us willstill prefer to sleep on our fluffy mattresses and wash in hot showers, wecannot deny the thrill and enjoyment of outdoor activity. Many of us stillenjoy camping and hiking as well as hunting and fishing. This connection ushumans hold tightly with the outdoors should not be considered recreational, itremains necessary to who we are as a species. 

It is clear that some of theseactivities can be conducted alone; they are more enjoyable and effective withothers, friends and family. Take hunting for example, many Americans hunt allacross the United States each year. Most of them go at it alone, which againsta whitetail deer or turkey is quite safe. However, our ancestors knew no suchluxury. Hunting the beasts which roamed the Earth in their time was no easytask, they had no conservation land and high powered range finders. They hadwhat they could fashion from the forests and carry in their hands. Theirstrength and safety was in their numbers. This element of trust is stillimportant to us today, within tight circles of friends and family. 

However, the land cannot alwaysprovide for those who occupy it. Eventually overpopulation will lead to a lackof resources. Limited supply often leads to will to leave for more. For manythousands of years humans explored on foot and by sea in search of many things.Whether it was for treasure, food, an enemy or a new home, us humans havealways craved more. Although it came out of necessity for many, some exploredout of boredom. 

The old idea that the “grass isalways greener” has convinced many humans to leave what they know for what theydidn’t. Our state of consciousness seems to require a certain amount ofstimulation to remain content. This stimulation used to be satisfied throughhunting and tribal wars and adventure. It is a tale as old as time, the youngbored man leaving home in search of adventure and excitement. 

In our modern time outer space isour last odyssey. While every man or woman may wish to feel the thrill ofadventure, the pride of survival, the glory of exploration; not all of us canbe astronauts. For most of us, our last frontier remains within us. How far canwe push ourselves in the suffocation of our own self-created environment?

[Next series starts Monday,

Ben 

PS. What do you think?]